If Rich Listers had to start over in 2023, what would they do?

Excerpt from The Australian Financial Review

By Lauren Sams

26 May 2023

What if you had to build your career from scratch again? We asked 10 Rich Listers, Young Rich Listers and notable entrepreneurs to imagine they were back at the beginning right now.

Mark Carnegie:

I’m not smart enough to be a tech bro, but if I was starting out again today, I wouldn’t go into finance. That wave is over, if you ask me. From 1980 to 2020, those finance guys – including me – rode the long wave of high interest rates. We all lucked out. But it’s not the way of the world any more. We are not getting back to those days.

If I was starting again, though, I’d be doing what I am now: looking for new markets. I like Africa. Everyone thinks I’m f—ing crazy, but it’s a new world where AI and crypto will change the balance between enterprising Africans and the rest of the world. It’s getting harder and harder for those kids to emigrate, so backing them in their home countries is a bet I like.

Crypto is not over. It absolutely has a future. It’s true that nobody can explain what it is still. But it has proved to be a valuable trade in capitalism. If you can focus on the genuine people, they make great investments. The times when cowboys can make $30 million are long gone, but that is healthy.

The greatest fortune is to be born Australian. You’re way ahead of the game even just with that. We’ve been able to ride through a lot of craziness without civil war – look at Brexit, look at America. So if you have the good fortune to be born here, invest in proper education. I’d do that if I was starting again. It sets you up to be in your industry, to compete more efficiently. Cut your entitlement, get some self-awareness and educate yourself. That’s a better investment than property. Promise you…

The future is still coming, you may as well throw yourself at it.

Mark Carnegie co-founded Lazard Carnegie Wylie, a boutique advisory service, in 2000 with John Wylie. He’s a serial entrepreneur, and lately he’s been an advocate for greater adoption of cryptocurrencies.

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